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Legend of the Medicine Wheel The Medicine Wheel is an important symbol in Native culture.The circle represents the cycle of life in that all life travels in a circular path. The four spokes in the middle represent the four directions, the four colors of man and the four faces of man (physical, mental, emotional and spiritual). We hope this symbolic wheel will bring you good feelings and serve as a reminder that we are one with our world and need to look after our home.

MEDICINE WHEEL

A PAPER CREATED BY: D HOWSE & K. OGEN

LET YOURSELF REALLY HEAR, REALLY FEEL, REALLY SEE. LET YOURSELF BE A HUMAN BEING... ONLY WHEN YOU ARE REAL WITH YOURSELF CAN YOU FIND THE RIGHT PATH IN LIFE..."

TOM LUIAN (1988)

The Recovery Medicine Wheel

The term "medicine" as it is used in the term Medicine Wheel refers to a healing, a teaching, an enlightening, ...spiritual energy.   A Medicine Wheel can best be described as a mirror within which everything is reflected.....

The Medicine Wheel encompasses the Four Direction Four winds, Four Grandfathers, Four Elements (earth, fire, air, water), four races of people in the human family (Black, White, Red, & Yellow). We the people have four aspects to our nature, four major realms of human existence.

NORTH - the physical realm, EAST  D the realm of knowledge and enlightenment, SOUTH D the spiritual realm, WEST  D the realm of introspective thought.

WALKING THE STEPS OF THE RECOVERY MEDICINE WHEEL

Walking the steps of the recovery medicine wheel means choosing a starting point and continuing in a sun wise direction and back to your beginning place. A circle has no true beginning nor ending point so when you have travelled through the wheel back to where you have started; you are ready to begin again.... with new understanding. This is a life long quest...

This Medicine Wheel concept is ancient, passed through the generations. It is a spiritual, emotional, psychological, & physical improvement model. To be used by and for those who seek inner peace, spiritual strength & a healthier mind & body.  It is a powerful tool with which a person can utilize to maintain sobriety and sustain recovery. It is especially beneficial to ACOA, Codependents, and people with addictions.

Think of the steps as you would the paddle of a canoe.  The paddle has great potential for moving you along a river.  But it is up to you to put the paddle in the water, push forward and adjust to the current. In the same way the steps of the Recovery medicine Wheel will have great potential for moving you along the "River of Life"  to recovery. BUT, you must apply them sincerely!

NORTH

PHYSICAL REALM OF THE WORLD

The north is the place of beginning because it the place of rebirth. You must make a decision in your life to stop physically abusing your body.

STEP 1: "Beginning today... I will take good care of myself" If you are abusing; drugs, alcohol, or food, you must start by recognizing the damage you are doing to your body.  You must take aggressive steps to get treatment for your addiction.

STEP 2: "Beginning today I will regain a balance in my life; by developing an understanding of the important connection between the physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual, parts of my existence" This means you will begin to see the entire picture of your life. In so doing... come to understand that the physical well being involves the need to become enlightened. It also means to become aware of the important connection between; emotions, life stress, sense of self and the effect these life elements have on your physical health.

STEP 3: "Beginning today I will stop inflicting pain (Physical/emotional) on myself and others. If you hurt inside... if you have anger/pain you must release it at a safe time and in a safe manner.  If you are causing pain in any form.... it must stop....beginning today.

STEP 4: "Beginning today I will come to an understanding that change is a process. People from dysfunctional families are NOT accustomed to process living.  They go from Crisis to Crisis. Recovering people must LEARN to live life as a process.   Understand and accept that this learning takes time and the changing takes time. You may not be able to expect an overnight miracle but you can expect a miracle over time....

EAST

KNOWLEDGE & ENLIGHTENMENT

The east is the morning direction. New day, new, light, new thought, and resolve...

STEP 1  Beginning today; I will reawaken to all creation and all of the beauty that exists in the world around me.  Like everything worthwhile, opening up again takes work.  Open yourself up to new experiences, new persons and new awareness. Begin today; to be... to become... to live...

STEP 2 Beginning today; I will release myself from a Narrow view of life and begin to grow, learn and gain new knowledge. You must now begin to give up you narrow and self destructive view of life. Venture forth.  Challenge yourself to learn... to grow... and to gain new knowledge... Go beyond fear to begin feeling that you are worth while, that you can make a positive life change.

STEP 3  Beginning today I will remember that I have a sacred right to live my life as I wish and need to bring harmony and balance into my existence by respecting the life rights of others.  You have the right to be you. You do not have the right to play a role assigned to you by your dysfunctional family. We need to have love and respect for others as well. We must learn to balance our rights, needs and desires with those of others in order to achieve harmony. You need to have love and respect for others as well.  We must learn to balance our rights, needs, and desires with those of others to achieve harmony.

STEP 4 Beginning today I will work on understanding the changes I must make in order to achieve personal harmony, balance and freedom. Consider the cognition and behaviour changes that will bring you freedom from your addiction.  Move away from old, dysfunctional, destructive life patterns to new balances, functional ways of living.  Fear must be replaced with a feeling of personal strength through the caring support of the self by the self and of the self by others.  Co-operation must replace tyrannical control and love must replace self hatred.

SOUTH

THE SPIRITUAL REALM

The south is the realm of existence where we will make a connection with a spiritual power greater than ourself.  Some may see this greater power as the collective essence of all people.  Others may see this as being pure energy.  What matters is that every recovering person connects with a spiritual essence, a power that is greater than him or herself.

STEP 1  Beginning today I will come to an understanding of my special relationship to Mother Earth and release my pain to her... We see the Earth as the Mother to all living things.  The soil, provides us with food, the stone, and soil that trees are in the earth can provide shelter for us. If we know and respect the earth, she will always provide for us.  In your recovery, Mother Earth will heal you with her beauty and energy. Touch Mother Earth and ask her to remove your inner sadness, anxiety and fear.   Ask her to allow you to let go of negative thinking and negative self perception. Release your pain to Mother Earth. and you will be refreshed, released, reborn, and freed.

STEP 2  Today I will come to understand my relationship with Father Sky... Father Sky is wind, rain, snow, thunder & lightening, stillness, movement, clarity and cloudiness.  It can  either take or give life. Father Sky will act as a reminder of the feelings within you; both gentle and destructive. If you watch and respect the ways of Father Sky, you will understand the meaning of balance and feel within you a sense of strength and ability.

STEP 3  Today I will seek the connection I have with all of the universe. This step teaches us to understand humility and belonging.  We can continue to heal ourselves by sharing knowledge and love with others. This love and connectedness must be supportive and uplifting.  It must be unconditional love.  It should not be the kind of love you expected in the past or had expected of you when drugs and alcohol were involved. That type of love is not love at all.  You must say; "I am going to begin caring for myself, and accept the love and support from others."

STEP 4  Today I will reconnect with and nurture my own spirit... This is the most direct, yet difficult step within the spiritual realm. This step asks you to nurture your own spirit. To do this you must connect with your inner self, with that most private part of you. You must be able to acknowledge your fears, desires, emotions, and feelings of distress.  Most of all; you must learn to care for your own spirit. Think of your spirit as a child. Find out what can be done to help that child.  See if the child needs love, reassurance, or comforting.  Is the child angry? If so let the child express some anger. Find a safe time and place for that child to let that anger go. That safe time may in a therapists office or in a sweat lodge, in a support group or in the solitude of your own room.  You should find someone who will be caring, supportive and nonjudgemental.  Treat your spirit, yourself, with love. Seek out your inner self. Heal your spirit..

THE REALM OF

INTROSPECTIVE THOUGHT.

This is the realm where we must look within ourself and be honest with what we see or find.

STEP 1  Today I will speak honestly with myself.  This step is asking you to stop suppressing feelings, stop turning off emotions and stop denying that problems exist.  For example if you are an adult child of an alcoholic, you may want to appear helpful, calm and in control.  In reality you'd be acting helpful as a means of avoiding rejection.  You may appear calm. But it is a way of showing inner tension and fear.  Your controlled exterior is likely an attempt to cover up your feelings of failure and inadequacy. In order to be healed, you will need to begin speaking honestly with yourself. As you become aware of the truths of your current life experiences, path to recovery the choices you make will be clear.

STEP 2  Today I will look at my problems and my accomplishments with a willingness to commit myself to positive growth and change. A person's ability to look at both problems and accomplishments can be an indicator of his/her sense of self.  At this point in the Medicine Wheel, acknowledgement of both problems and accomplishments return balance to your life. Commitment to positive growth and change provides the path to healing.

STEP 3  Today I will examine the ways in which I have tried to manipulate, control, or manage the lives of others. I will make a commitment to stop this behaviour. This step has a great deal of meaning for recovering addicts, adult children of alcoholics, co-dependent persons as well as those from dysfunctional families. The person must realize that when performing the controlling behaviours that he/she is bringing harm to themself as well as the individual they have infringed upon. Let the addicted person or significant other fix their own problem. The responsibility of owning their own problem and facing the consequences will be the other persons problem. You need to stop attempting to manage others and focus on taking responsibility for your own life, your own recovery.

STEP 4  Today I will acknowledge that change in my life must begin with me. This step is an action step in which you empower yourself to make positive life changes.  No one else but you can make changes in your own life.  No one else can stop your addiction.  Others can help you, encourage you, support you, but only you can stop your addictive process.  Discover your personal path to recovery. A recovery/support group, a therapist, or trusted other and your own insight will help you unravel the meaning of each step of the RECOVERY MEDICINE WHEEL.  Many traits of this medicine wheel are like other therapeutic healing methods; 12 step, reality therapy, and behaviour modification therapy to name a few. We hope you have been enlightened as to the use of the medicine wheel in healing through this information paper.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Coggins K. "ALTERNATIVE PATHWAYS TO HEALING. THE RECOVERY MEDICINE WHEEL. Health Communication Inc. 3201 S.W.  15th Street, Deerfield Beach, Florida 33442 (1990)

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